Coronavirus Farm

I'm not entirely sure, but I think we're in the third week of "stay-at-home" life. Adam has been sick, not with Covid-19 it turns out, but with Mono. In addition, both mowers and our weed-eater were experiencing springtime refusal to operate, and new parts were ordered. Today, at last, we mowed. 

The beds in the house lot: herbs and some flowers

In the herb garden by the house, I put some itty-bitty basil plants out today.

This is the only annual I plant in my herb beds. The old herb bed looks a mess, but it's chock full of lemon balm, tarragon, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and a bit of mint that I rip up regularly.

The two teepee affairs are for sweet peas.

This horrible mass of weeds is actually many daffodils, whose greenery I must give a chance to yellow so they will bloom next year. My eucalyptus tree died there. Soon a huge tub of cherry tomatoes will sit there.

Weedy pasture:

The buttercups are blooming in the pasture.

In the veggie garden, the peas are lovely!

 We have a resident black snake living behind/inside the metal liner around this bed. He introduced himself to me yesterday.

The strawberries are hiding under a cover.

I picked four yesterday.

We're eating as much asparagus as we can. I'll freeze the leftover.

asparagus bed

I'm digging out the bed for okra, which I should sow soon.

The soil temp needs to be warm for okra. It grew so well here last year I'm doing more this year.

My year-old elderberry gave me five little elderberry starts this spring that I've put each in her own tire bed.

We'll see if they decide to live.

Tiny little thing.
What else? I'm awful with flower beds, but a little clump of Sweet William and something-else-I-should-remember, are blooming. See the encroaching grass, vetch, and onions? I'm more interested in my herbs.

And I put 3 lemongrass plants in the ground. There's a Sedum a friend gave me a cutting of.

I put it in the bed and it lived! You never know.

You'd think, being stuck at home, that we'd be vigorously addressing our 4 acres and being productive. Adam is too sick and tired to do much. And honestly, I'm giving myself a pass on the usual guilt-trip of productivity and accomplishment. The world seems fractured, living is scary, the immediate future is woefully uncertain, and I find it hard to focus on much. This is not despair I speak of, just stress. In God's hands, our lives are safe and we will be well. But if the grass grows high and the asparagus goes to seed, I will not worry over it. Don't you either. Much love from the farm!

Attacking the Garden Again

Hello, farm friends. We have been making progress in the vegetable garden. Strong wind and too much rain have slowed us down a little.

 Adam's been digging out his potato beds and now has them lined in metal like the other beds. He has white potatoes in one bed, and the sweet potatoes are coming this week in the mail.
This next area is the old compost pile (grass clippings). 

 He may plant corn there this year after he digs out worms and puts them into his worm bin.
Other happenings in the greenhouse and garden:
Tomato seedlings - Matt's Wild Cherry on the left and Amish Paste on the right:

 Basil, which I sold at the market this morning:

 Those onions I have no idea what to do with:

 Oregano seeds did not germinate well. These are all I have.

 The wind blew under the greenhouse plastic and left a mess!

 The thing growing best in the garden beds is the horseradish, sigh. We've tried to get rid of it.

 Someone gave us a nice yellow squash plant today.

I would show you the peas, lettuce, kale, collards, spinach, strawberries, and asparagus, but that means I'd have to show you how weedy those beds are, and I just can't do it. We will address the weeds after Easter. Been a bit busy around here lately, and the garden has taken second fiddle.

Hurricane Florence ripped up our chicken pen cover. Branches and leaves fell on it, and then the cords broke. Adam pulled it all off and put new netting overhead, plus a new center post to hold it all up. Old:

 New:

The netting looks like somebody's wig.

 Adam got four massive truck tires for free to use as planters for a new elderberry bush and some lavender. 

Elderberry bush:

 I've had no luck with lavender at all. These are varieties that supposedly do well here.

My broody silkie mama hatched three chicks. They are so adorable, peeping away. She is wonderfully attentive.

 They haven't yet left the end of the coop that is their brooder. Those other eggs in the photo were duds.
My other silkie hen likes to pretend she's broody. She sits in one of the laying boxes all day long, on the other hens' eggs with her eyes at half-mast like broody hens do. But if given half a chance, she's outa there, taking a dust bath, also known as chicken spa.

 There's a children's story in there somewhere.

I'm still painting the gourds I grew last year.

 The Lady Banks Rose is lovely this year.

A friend gave us a box of fresh local strawberries which we topped and put into the freezer. I'll make jam later. The fig trees are looking promising this year. Adam and I aren't quite as quick and spry regarding farm work as we were nearly 4 years ago! But we will get around to it all. Thanks for stopping by!

Farm Update: July 3

I haven't done a farm post in nearly two months. I have various excuses: rain, rain, and then a bit more rain. A wedding. The outrageous heat. But truthfully, I had energy for one blog, not two. There you have the unvarnished truth.

For future reference, here are a few stats:

*3 chicks survive from the May clutch. I think two are hens, but unsure still. They are nine weeks old today.
*Ethel is broody on four Ameracauna eggs, one week in. 
*It's a bad tomato year. I have about 25 plants in the garden, but the Mini Orange plants are performing badly because of excessive rain - rotten fruit. The 2 plants in pots with drainage did better.

*Matt's Wild Cherry tomato plants are doing okay. The 3 plants that overwintered on the porch have done extremely well. I should try that again. I had abundant cherry tomatoes all through June, which is early. The rope trellising is not a good solution for tomatoes. We need a new plan. Cages are too short for vining varieties.
*Cucumbers are bearing very well. The pickling variety turn yellow quickly. But the rope trellising is perfect for cucumbers. We will do that each year.

*I started my Blue Lake bean plants too late. I have 8 plants in a bed fenced against rabbits. Difficult to weed. Pepper plants also in there, and growing well.
*The greens bed was fabulous. We could not eat or sell even a majority of it.
*Babies' Breath and Chamomile did not grow well. Heavy rain destroyed the first and heat/weeds destroyed the second.
*Carrots appear to be growing well. No sign of orange root yet. I sowed seeds on March 29.
*A good year for onions, which were put in as sets last fall. At the end of June their tops were down enough to pull them. They're curing on the front porch. Then I think we'll store them in the frig.

* Each year our potato harvest improves. Adam harvested them today. He'll brush off the dirt and we'll store them in the spare bedroom.

*I've had decent farm sales at the market, selling nearly everything. 
*I have so much tomato sauce left over from last year that I'm cooking it down and turning it all into tomato paste, which Adam uses most readily in cooking.

Reduced by half, after simmering for a day

*We ate some peas this year, but did not freeze any. We don't tend to remember what's in the deep freezer, and garden produce sits there for a long time, uneaten. Need to improve on that.
* I made a batch of tea tree soap in February, one of lavender in March, and just made a mixed batch last week. I've steadily made batches of Healing Herb Ointment, Bee Balm, and Insect Repellent Lotion Bars, all of which sell well. I'll make a bit of ointment for ourselves today because we use it so often.
*Herb beds are doing very well, if weedy. I made a large batch of herbal tea (mint, lemon balm, tarragon, lemongrass), and sold the first tin of it at the market on Saturday.

*Adam's willow tree starts are doing extremely well. Thicker wands have grown better than thinner ones. 
*My seven loofah vines are looking very good. They won't bear until autumn. I sold almost all of my last year's loofah scrubs.

I think that's about it! If you want to know more about what's happening in our lives -- the roof, the wedding, the dogs -- skip on over to my other blog, Through a Glass Darkly. Thanks for stopping by!

Will Spring Ever Come?

I know that, technically, Lady Spring has arrived, but it doesn't feel like it. We still have lows in the 30's! In spite of this, on Friday Adam put the plastic back on the hoop house.

 This year he added PVC rollers on the bottom edges so we can roll the sides up and cool the house that way, when need be.
Adam snapped the plastic in place with this brilliant wiggle wire:

 The four large, leggy tomato plants from the front porch were moved out there right away. I don't care if it was 38 degrees last night -- they have overstayed their welcome on the front porch!

 Adam is building a new door for the hoop house. He used the old one on the chicken coop. Chickens first!! Haha!

Our greens are slow but doing well. Can you see them in the bed? From left to right, a smattering of spinach, red kale, lettuce, and more kale.

 The peas are up and looking great, about 25 of them, too short for their trellis.

 The apple tree in the orchard is blooming. They are the loveliest blooms.

 I let my younger chickens free range today; I feel so sorry for them with no greenery in their run.

The three hens didn't want to eat. They wanted to dust bathe.

 I want them to free range, but I lost one of the young chicks to a predator about a month ago while they were free ranging. A second chick died because of its cross-beak. The third chick, Cassie, is the lowest of the low, on the Chicken Totem Pole. It's so sad. They make her sleep on the floor of the coop, on the other end, while they all sleep on the roost. I feel sorry for her.
Speaking of birds, these friendly fellows perched near us on the ferry yesterday, as we returned from the flea market.

 The gulls were particularly active. Some have white heads, and some have jet black.

 We went across the river Saturday morning just at sunrise -- the 6:15 a.m. ferry.

 Those of you following my weaves, here's the finished shawl/scarf, for sale. It came back home with me. It ended up being 12" wide and over 70" long.

When we drove into the driveway, Trixie trotted up to greet us. She was not supposed to be loose! Trixie was left in the fenced farm pasture with Ned and Baby, to play for the day while we were gone. She should have been behind that fence, but she had somehow escaped! It was horrible to think of what might have happened, but evidently she's a smart cookie, and knew to stay on the back porch waiting for us to come home. Phew! Adam was mighty relieved.

That new market across the river is wearing us both out. I think the verdict is still out, whether we will do it long term. But yesterday was good. However, this not-a-morning-person girl finds it a challenge, that's for sure!

You will probably read this on Palm Sunday, or afterward. Please have a blessed Easter week. It's time to think about Jesus, about His mighty sacrifice and His eternal, persistent love for us. We're having a Seder Supper at our church on Thursday evening, a "recreating," if you will, of the Last Supper, which was, of course, a redoing of the Passover, and simultaneously the first Lord's Supper/Communion. Adam walks us through the dinner, explaining it all, and we break half-way for our own covered-dish supper also. It's a great evening -- if you're local, please come! All are welcome at 6:00 p.m. Have a blessed week.